


An Incomplete History

by Sophitia



Category: Stardew Valley (Video Game)
Genre: Childhood Friends, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Letters, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-02
Updated: 2020-03-13
Packaged: 2021-02-27 22:47:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,103
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22993426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sophitia/pseuds/Sophitia
Summary: Elizabeth’s heart stopped as she realized that even now, after all this time, after all this business of moving on, she hadn’t forgotten a single thing about him.---Elizabeth spent idyllic childhood summers in Stardew Valley with her grandfather. Now, years later, she returns, trying to find something to fill the void within her. The last thing she expects is facing Sebastian, the best friend that had abandoned her years ago.
Relationships: Sebastian/Female Player (Stardew Valley)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 39





	1. Migration

> _baz_   
>  _24 mountain rd_   
>  _stardew valley_
> 
> _mom said i could send a post card so here is my post card._   
>  _i miss stardew already. mom is helping me count days to next summer._   
>  _did you mean it when you called me your best friend?_   
>  _\- your best friend?? (lettie)_

* * *

*

It happened exactly as Granddad said it would.

Elizabeth had been working for Joja for years. Three, maybe? Four? She was a good _company man_ , with an MBA from a prestigious university. She’d been living in the bright lights of downtown Zuzu City, successful and social. Doing everything right. Doing everything perfectly.

But in the last few months... she’d been fighting a growing darkness.

At first, she thought it was something that needed to be relieved. It felt like an itch, an unsettling buzz just under her skin. But nothing she attempted for “self care” - not exercise, vegetable smoothies, goat yoga, aerial gymnastics - could stop the hole within her from growing bit by bit. It was a deep unease, oozing into her bones.

It was then that she realized - she was being extinguished, with her edges worn away and each hue of her inner fire erased. 

Just like Granddad said, that night they said their final goodbyes. And then he simply gave her a letter, and told her to open it when she was ready.

_Dear Lettie…_

Looking at the parchment letter in her cold Joja desk drawer, she didn’t have to break the seal to know what was inside. Already she could see the candy-colored country, and feel the hushed magic in the hills of the Valley.

_If you’re reading this, you must be in dire need of a change..._

Staring at it, with the tick, tick, tick of Joja’s time clock in the air, Elizabeth felt something she hadn’t in a long time.

_The same thing happened to me, long ago…_

She felt a spark. She felt longing. 

_This was my most precious gift of all…_

She thought for a moment about creating a plan - where step one was putting in her two weeks’ notice, step two was something about getting a subletter, step three was somethingsomething responsibility… but Elizabeth had always been prone to recklessness, with a love of the dramatic. So she grabbed her purse, her grandfather’s letter, and her one management-approved personal item - a cactus - and stormed out. 

And when her boss asked where she was going, all she said was: “Home.”

\--- 

Only 24 hours later Elizabeth was on a bus, cactus in her lap, on her way to Stardew Valley.

Stardew Valley, where nestled Leicester Family Farm. Stardew Valley, where she spent her childhood summers. 

_Home._

She watched as the tunnel inched closer in the distance, the Valley just beyond. It had been so long since she had last talked to anyone in Pelican Town, the village nearest the farm. Longer still since she had been there herself.

As a child she had spent idyllic summers running and screaming like a banshee in those woods. She had learned how to sustain herself off the land, how to grow a rainbow of beautiful crops, and how to forage for the rarest of minerals. All under the watchful eye of Granddad. Her mysterious, kind granddad.

As the bus dove into the inky black of the tunnel, she wondered if the Valley was still the perfection she remembered. Or if it, and the loving community she had found there, had changed beyond recognition.

 _Like I have_ , she thought sardonically.

Would anyone remember her? Would they care she was returning? Or would this be just another entry in her life of disappointment?

She got her answer as soon as the rumbling bus barreled back into the sunshine, and rolled to a slow stop.

There, pacing at the bus stop, was a red-headed woman, practically vibrating with excitement. Elizabeth couldn't help the wide grin that erupted. 

_Robin._

“Elizabeth! Look at you, all grown up and gorgeous. Come here!” Within moments of her stepping off the bus, Robin enveloped Elizabeth in a warm hug, the kind only moms could give. Cactus held safely away, Elizabeth hugged back and closed her eyes, savoring it a little bit.

Both women were smiling when they pulled apart.

“I couldn’t believe it when Lewis told me you were coming, I just had to come and pick you up myself. What has it been, almost ten years? Who can even believe time has flown by so fast…”

Robin continued chatting as they made the stroll to Leicester Farm. Elizabeth struggled to keep pace, her eyes darting everywhere as she tried to take in everything at once.

Stardew Valley looked like a place out of time. Ten years? It was as if not a moment had passed here. Impossibly, it was still the pastel-tinted paradise of her childhood.

The only thing missing was…

“...Sebby’s going to lose his _mind_ when he finds out you’re back!”

_...Sebastian._

“He’s… here?” Yoba, when did her voice get so small? 

Elizabeth snuck a glance at Robin and saw she was nodding and waving her hand dismissively. “He says he’s working some job, but it still just looks like my son’s spending all day playing computer games. You guys were so close when you were kids!”

Close? Close didn’t even cut it.

Sebastian had been Elizabeth’s best friend. Her confidant. Even though she only spent the summers with Granddad at the farm, they kept in constant touch with letters and emails and late-night phone calls. Even when her parents divorced and the summer visits stopped, they never lost contact.

...Until Baz just couldn’t be bothered anymore.

He’d been so focused on getting out of Pelican Town - why was he still here? And still living with Robin? 

_Yoba, he and Demetrius must be at each other’s throats..._

Elizabeth shook her head. Sebastian’s problems hadn’t been her concern for a long time.

She tried as hard as she could to smile. “Oh, that was a long time ago, Robin.” She aimed for nonchalant, but landed somewhere near dismayed.

She was saved from having to say anything else when the Leicester Farm sign came into view. 

Elizabeth looked over at Robin, who was grinning. “He really kept it, after all this time?” She couldn’t keep the awe out of her voice. 

_"Lettie, I’m not giving you dinner until you paint this sign and make it welcoming. Leicester Farm is a place for everybody, even teenage girls with attitude problems!"_

**LEICESTER FAMILY FARM**   
**A place for everybody,**   
**so fuck it - come on in!**

Elizabeth blinked hard to keep her welling tears from falling. Granddad had laughed so hard when he saw the sign she had painted partly in protest, and promised he would keep it forever.

And he had.

Laughing, she and Robin strolled further onto the plot. Though the sun was shining and the breeze was cool and the birds were chirping merrily, Elizabeth had to face facts: the farm was definitely run-down. Covered in weeds, fallen trees, and rocks, it would take months of back-breaking work to get it even close to good condition.

But her heart was so full from being in her beloved Stardew Valley once more that Elizabeth could only think of how soon she could get started.

\---

Robin and Elizabeth spent most of the afternoon touring the farm and laying the groundwork for future plans. A coop there once the land was cleared and Elizabeth could afford lumber, fields there where the soil was in the best shape, and wouldn’t a barn just be amazing over there near that crop of trees? 

As the sun set, Robin invited Elizabeth to join her and Demetrius for dinner at the Stardrop. Without a kitchen in the farmhouse, Elizabeth could come up with no believable excuse to stay home.

They were halfway to town when Elizabeth started silently begging Yoba, the universe, anyone who was listening:

_Please, just don’t make me see him tonight._

\---

It was a cruel little twist of fate, then, that she heard him before she saw him.

Dinner with Robin and Demetrius had been companionable, if a little awkward. Demetrius was just as overbearing as she remembered. 

She was just saying her goodbyes and hallelujah-ing her good luck when she finally registered the chorus of noise coming from the back game room. There was a jumble of sounds, but one stood out to her - one she hadn't dare think of for a long, long time.

The voice she immediately recognized as Sebastian's had a deeper, richer tone than she would have guessed, but she knew it all the same. He was laughing - cackling, really; he had just won something. Elizabeth’s heart stopped as she realized that even now, after all this time, after all this business of _moving on_ , she hadn’t forgotten a single thing about him.

She looked toward the sound and there he was, playing pool with Sam and Abigail.

_Ah._

So it had only been _her_ he'd excised from his life.

Elizabeth hugged herself and glanced around quickly, trying to find some escape, some place to hide because she was not ready. She would _never_ be ready, she realized. But she looked up again just in time to make eye contact with Sam, and see the recognition in his eyes. 

The film reel of her life stalled and slowed, each moment a distinct piece rather than a flow of events.

Sam nudged Sebastian’s shoulder and pointed her way.

Then he said, “Hey, doesn’t that look a lot like Elizabeth?”

Sebastian’s body tensed and froze, his brow knitted in confusion.

His eyes followed Sam’s gesturing until they met hers, and widened in shock.

“Lettie?”

In how many different daydreams had Elizabeth imagined this moment? Some were dramatic, romantic or terrifying, while in others she was a cold and witty mastermind. In every single one of them, though, she was poised and in control. She took a deep breath and tried to channel that peak Elizabeth.

Smiling as best she could, she lifted a few fingers in a small, jaunty wave.

And then she bolted.

\---

Outside she could hardly feel the early spring chill in the air. Her ears were ringing with a constant chorus of _fuckfuckfuck_. She was panicking, she knew, but since deciding to come back to Stardew Valley, she never thought there was a chance he would still be there.

_Maybe I should have put more than a day's thought into this..._

She heard a second slam of the Stardrop’s door and looked back to see Sebastian running after her. 

_Fuck, why doesn’t this town have cars?_

“Lettie! Lettie, I know it’s you, wait!”

Elizabeth stopped and sighed, dropping her tight shoulders and steeling her spine. She would not - could not - be reduced _yet again_ to an 18-year-old girl crying over Sebastian. 

She plastered on her best Joja customer service smile before turning around. “Sebastian, hey! So crazy, running into you. How are you?” 

His nose wrinkled and he cocked his head and _Yoba be damned_ she knew it was because he couldn’t remember the last time she had called him _Sebastian_. “Crazy is running into _you_ at the Stardrop Saloon. In Pelican Town at all. What are you doing here?”

The last time she had seen Sebastian in person - when they were 15 years old and saying goodbye at the end of the summer - they had stood eye-to-eye. But he was an entire head taller than her now. His dark hair was still long, but intentional in its style now. The piercings were gone. His face was sharper, his boyish cute looks traded for a handsome, angular silhouette. His presence was still all-encompassing, the twilight pastels of Pelican Town after dusk traded for the metallic hues of heart-breaking Sebastian.

His eyes, though, were the same piercing grey - and they were sizing her up as she was him. Comparing _then_ to _now_. Cataloging the changes. Updating the encyclopedic knowledge he used to have of her.

That they used to have of each other.

“Taking over the farm,” she finally answered him, brusquely.

“Oh.”

“My grandfather died.”

“I had heard, I’m so sorry.”

“Thank you, it was a couple of years ago.”

“Yeah.”

The conversation was maddening in its emptiness. Is this how it was going to be, every time she ran into him in this impossibly tiny town? Stilted and awkward and boring as hell?

“Well... uh. Early morning on the farm tomorrow and all that, so…”

“Right.”

Elizabeth turned without further word. She took six steps before something burned inside her, a spark of the old, impulsive Lettie desperate to get out.

She whirled - noticing he hadn’t moved at all - and the words were out before she could think better of it. “You broke my heart, you know. Like, fucking _shattered_ it.”

Sebastian at least had the courage to look her in the eyes. “I know,” he said, as he shoved his hands into his jean pockets.

“I think I might still hate you for it.”

His brow pinched in pain but he never looked away. "That makes two of us."

"Great, glad we cleared that up," she huffed, unable to keep the bitterness out of her voice. She spun once again to face the path to the farm. 

She stalked away - and this time, she didn't look back.

*

* * *

> _  
> lettie_   
>  _465 merry lane apt 7_   
>  _zuzu city_
> 
> _here is YOUR post card. i did mean it._  
>  _but you can’t tell anybody!!!  
> _ _maru gets jealous and then I get in trouble so only you and me can know, ok?_  
>  _\- baz (best friend)_


	2. Artifacts

> _to: obsidian_wizzard@email.sdv_   
>  _from: lettiebear@jojanet.co_   
>  _subject: UGHHHHHHHHHH_
> 
> _i can’t believe it. the first time i see my parents in a room together in months and it’s when they’re discussing MY stupid custody schedule. oh, and neither of them give a shit about what i want. surprise!_
> 
> _dad said he won’t give up his summer with me so i can go to the farm with granddad. i asked for a month or a few weeks, at least, and he said no, that’s mom’s family and she can give up her time to make it happen._
> 
> _but i’m only with her during the school year so how would that work???_
> 
> _i don’t want to be at my mom’s stupid apartment halfway across the country or in this house in zuzu all alone with my dad. i asked if i could just go live with granddad and go to school in the valley and they both looked at me like i was deranged._
> 
> _baz you have to help me convince them somehow. i miss the farm and i miss you and i even miss abby and stupid sam._
> 
> _~* lettie *~_

* * *

*

In the days following her roller coaster arrival, Elizabeth found solace in a forgotten facet of small-town living: everyone _loves_ a good routine.

Over the next few weeks, it had been surprisingly easy to avoid Sebastian in Pelican Town. She stayed away from the Stardrop on Friday nights, didn't use the south road near Sam's on weekends, and did all of her ordering with Robin over the phone.

What hadn’t been easy was avoiding _the specter_ of Sebastian. It haunted Pelican Town. The whole valley was a minefield of happy memories, now soured with the knowledge of what came after. She could barely take a step without stumbling over some discarded piece of her childhood.

Near the pond, she fell into the memories of Granddad teaching her and Sebastian how to fish.

_"Can’t we just catch frogs instead?"_

At Pierre’s General Store, she tripped over the memory of when she and Sebastian were caught shoplifting picnic ingredients.

_"It was my idea, Granddad. Don't punish Baz by telling his mom and Demetrius!"_   
_“She’s lying, it was my idea! Don’t send her home!”_

On the beach, she shuffled over several summer days spent in the sun with Sebastian, and Sam, and Abigail.

_"Baz, you better stay in the shade — otherwise our poor vampire will be a dust bunny! Hahaha!"_   
_“Argh! You’re the one that made me come out here!”_

And every single rainy day, she was drenched by the knowledge that these wet, gloomy days were Sebastian's favorite.

_“I’m so booooored, Baz. Rainy days are the worst!”_   
_“They’re the best and you know it. Plus, plenty of time to teach you how to play Solarion Chronicles!”_

Every time she fell into one of these happy memories she relived the heartbreak of Sebastian’s abandonment, her heart clenching and draining all the warmth from her. After that her cheeks burned with a sickening wave of guilt and shame — that she couldn’t think of happy memories of her Granddad and the farm without making it all about _her_ and her teenage heartache.

All Elizabeth could do was try to keep distracting herself. 

The farm was hard work, but she had a small field, crops planted, and a harvest coming soon. Every day was spent tending to crops, clearing overgrowth, and emptying the cobwebs out of the shed Granddad had left behind. But every morning when she walked out of the farmhouse and saw the little green shoots making their way towards the sun, she was proud, and grateful.

Through this work, and through her tiny little crops, she could feel a bit of sunlight.

\---

A few weeks after Elizabeth had taken up the title of “The Farmer,” she received a note from Mayor Lewis inviting her to the annual Egg Festival.

Did Elizabeth _want_ to go to the Egg Festival? No.

But did she want to _miss_ the Egg Festival? Also no.

Pelican Town's festivals were one of her favorite things. The Flower Dance, the Moonlight Jellies, the Luau… They all seemed like celebrations that had gotten to the Valley by way of time machine. Community celebrations had been a rare — and mocked — thing in Zuzu City.

In the past, Elizabeth usually arrived for her summer visits the day before the Flower Dance, and left the day after the Dance of the Moonlight Jellies. She had never actually been at the farm early enough for the Egg Festival, and the thought of creating brand-new memories untainted by sadness was very appealing. 

There was still so much in Stardew Valley she hadn’t experienced, still so much to explore like she had as a free, wild child, and she was loath to give up on her excitement because Sebastian _might_ be there.

Would probably be there. Would definitely probably be there.

The morning sun beginning to bear down on her, Elizabeth sighed in frustration. She felt like a fool, letting him take one more thing away from her. She hadn’t even been able to catch up with Sam or Abigail yet, both of whom were friends from her summer visits. An entire town was being kept at a distance because of what _one_ person did to her _years_ ago.

She glanced at the invitation from Lewis once more, and resolved herself.

She was going to the Egg Festival, and i she was going to have fun.

\---

“... Abigail winds up for the steal and _oh!_ that’s a body check. On a child. We’ll have to check with the mayor but from here in the booth that was definitely a flagrant foul. The refs are _sleeping_ today on these calls...”

Elizabeth and Sam were sitting on the sidelines of the famous Egg Hunt, Sam giving play-by-play commentary while Elizabeth, wine in hand and belly full of food, laughed for what felt like the first time in years. Abigail was, for better or worse, winning the Egg Hunt.

More than she could have hoped for, Elizabeth was enjoying herself.

Mercifully, Sebastian was absent. He never did like the festivals too much, Elizabeth knew. So she took full advantage and had launched herself at her old friends, Sam and Abigail, delighted to finally say more than a greeting in passing. 

Sam, with his golden hair shining in the bright spring sun, was taller now, but otherwise unchanged. He still looked like the sweet boy-next-door she remembered. Abigail, however, had completely transformed. With her hair dyed an ethereal indigo and a dazzling smile she was definitely not the annoying kid Elizabeth remembered.

She hadn't been nearly as close with Sam and Abby as she had been Sebastian, but Elizabeth still found comfort and ease in their company. Without feeling like she needed to meticulously map and time all of her movements like she was planning a heist, she could actually relax, and felt more at ease than she had since arriving.

Elizabeth hadn’t realized how heavy her bitterness towards Sebastian was until she let it go for a moment.

“Wow, Abigail really is laser-focused on winning this, isn’t she?” Elizabeth said as her giggles wound down.

Sam sighed, good-naturedly. “She isn’t one to lose, our dear Abby. Anything that can be a competition, will be a competition, and she will be victorious.” 

They sat in companionable silence for a few moments before he glanced sidelong at Elizabeth. “It’s why she hated you so much when we were kids, you know.”

Elizabeth sputtered and laughed. “What? We weren’t in competition.”

Sam let out a bark of laughter. “You’re kidding, right?”

“I was the older bossy nobody that came only during the summer and ordered her around. I always figured it was nothing more than that.” She took a sip of wine. “Was it more than that?” she asked, as she watched Sam’s brow arch incredulously.

“Wow, that’s… I can’t believe you didn’t see it. Do you have a vision problem?” He laughed at his own joke. “Do I need to find Harvey?”

Elizabeth couldn’t help but giggle. “See _what_ , Sam?”

“How insanely jealous she was of you.”

“Of me? Why?”

Sam cocked his head and looked at her wide-eyed. “You and Sebastian.”

Elizabeth let out a bitter chuckle.

“It’s true! She’s always had a thing for him, but you were always there. Always in the way, as she saw it. But even beyond that… who wouldn’t be jealous of _Lettie and Baz_?” He said it like a brand name. “You guys were inseparable.”

“Were,” she repeated. Asserted. Elizabeth felt an acidic heat run over her body as she tried to keep her face neutral and her voice even. “Well, we now know she had nothing to be jealous of, don’t we?”

There were several moments of silence as the rosy veil of reminiscence was pulled away, the whole arc and stinging end of the story playing out in their minds.

“Elizabeth,” Sam said kindly, “you can’t avoid him forever. You should really let him apologize or…”

Elizabeth found her customer service smile and waved off the rest of his words. “It’s okay, Sam. It was a long time ago.” The burning sensation in her heart was getting worse, and all she wanted was a quick exit. She looked up to see Abigail being crowned victorious.

“I should really go get some strawberry seeds from Pierre before he closes up,” she said, standing. “It was really nice to finally catch up, Sam. I mean it. I’ll see you around?”

Sam gave a resigned half-smile and nodded as he pulled her in for a quick hug. “Don’t be a stranger, Elizabeth. Let’s get dinner sometime this week after I get off at JojaMart, okay?”

Elizabeth nodded into his shoulder. She missed this, these simple acts of friendship. She pulled away slowly and made her escape.

As she walked away, she heard Abigail’s crow of victory and Sam’s indulgent laughter, and she tried to convince herself that the sourness she felt was not jealousy.

\---

Elizabeth didn’t think about Sam, their conversation, or even Sebastian for the next few days. In Zuzu City, with her fancy gym membership and group classes, she would have insisted she was in great shape, but Leicester Farm said otherwise. Clearing land and and the ramp-up to harvesting crops took more out of her than she knew she had.

Three days after the festival, Elizabeth was shuffling her way to the General Store, dragging a half-full cart of cauliflower behind her. She finally had a new harvest to sell to Pierre, and not a moment too soon — she desperately needed supplies and something other than foraged spring salad to eat.

But after fighting with the door and eventually yanking her cart inside, she froze in her tracks. It was not Pierre, but Abigail greeting her from behind the counter.

“Elizabeth! Hey!” Abigail smiled wide and waved furiously. “Dad had to run a few errands, so I’m holding down the fort.”

What Sam had told her now echoed furiously between Elizabeth’s ears. _It’s why she hated you so much…_

Making her way to the register, Elizabeth was quiet. She gave a small, awkward smile. “Hey, Abby.”

Abigail’s smile dropped immediately, and she let out an irritated groan. “Ugh! Sam told you, didn’t he?!”

Elizabeth snapped her eyes up to Abigail's, guilty with the knowledge.

“Oh my _Yoba_ , he did! He told you about my stupid old crush on Sebastian and now _you_ feel weird and think _I_ feel weird and _ugh!_ I told him to be cool, for once in his life!” Abigail’s words were out in a loud, fretful rush and Elizabeth could barely keep up.

“Um… yeah, Sam did tell me some…” she managed to eek out.

Abigail groaned. “Well. He’s dumb. And Sebastian’s dumb, too. Look, Elizabeth,” she exhaled and gave a reassuring smile. “I don’t feel the same way I did. Yoba, can you _imagine_? Sebastian’s just a moody friend.”

Abigail walked around the counter and placed her hands on Elizabeth’s shoulders. “I am so glad you’re back here with us. Please disregard anything idiot Sam told you. I can’t wait for us to be amazing friends. ”

With a relieved sigh and bright smile, Elizabeth let go of the tension and awkwardness she’d held. 

Abigail returned to the register, still beaming. “I’m assuming you didn’t come here to confront me about old resentments, and would prefer to turn your cauliflower into cold, hard coin.”

Elizabeth laughed. She could already tell she was going to love Abigail for her blunt and honest nature. “Yes, coin would be fantastic.”

Abigail got to work quickly, looking each cauliflower over, evaluating its quality, and adding up prices. While she waited, Elizabeth quietly flicked through Pierre’s seed catalog. There was still plenty of spring left, but soon she’d be needing to transition to summer crops and seeds.

“You know, I tried to call him Baz, once. Like you used to.” Abigail feigned nonchalance, like she was talking about the weather or the price of fish in Gotoro, but snuck a glimpse to gauge Elizabeth’s reaction.

Elizabeth’s hand stilled in her perusal of the seed catalog, but she said nothing, and didn’t look up.

“It was that summer after you guys graduated. I thought maybe I could help him… pivot? You weren't there, but I could be, you know?” Abigail continued in her same uninterested affect as she finished unloading Elizabeth’s cart.

Elizabeth still hadn’t looked up, but resumed slowly turning the pages of the catalog. She could feel all that hurt and betrayal again, leaning so heavily on her heart.

“I regretted it as soon as I said it. He just _whomp!_ went silent and looked like he’d eaten a rotten horseradish.” Abigail crossed her arms on the counter and leaned forward. “I regretted it because it made me see immediately that I couldn’t take your place as his person. It was either Baz and _Lettie_ , or it was Sebastian and _no one_.”

Elizabeth was weary with the effort of boxing up her sadness so many times a day. She let her misery show as her brow tensed and her head fell, just a little. She looked up at Abigail with watery eyes. “He’s the one who decided it would be no one.”

Her face softening with sympathy, Abigail reached across the counter to hold Elizabeth’s hand. “ _He’s_ a bona fide moron.”

Elizabeth sniffed and smiled, then shook her head and blinked back tears. “It was seven years ago. I don’t know why it still makes me so… emotional. I’m sorry.”

Abigail scoffed. “You literally _never_ have to apologize to me for being emotional. Ever.” 

Both women smiled at each other as Elizabeth pulled herself together.

Abigail let go of her friend’s hand, patting it as she withdrew. “You can’t carry it around forever, Elizabeth. You should talk to him or yell at him or beat him up or something.”

Elizabeth gave a small, impish smirk. “I definitely could beat him up. I always was better with a sword.”

Their laughter was interrupted by the shop’s door, and the commotion of Abigail’s mother, Caroline, bustling in with Robin and a few other women from the village.

“Oh, eek, I forgot it’s aerobics Tuesday. Hurray!” Abigail announced sarcastically. “It’s about to get very loud and very motherly in here, so let’s get you on your way. What else did you need?”

Elizabeth glanced at the raucous group making their way to the back meeting room. She gave a small wave to Robin and then nodded to Abigail. “I’ll take all the potato seeds you have.”

Abigail started ringing up seed packets. “I’ll give them to you at a discount. Every tenth one free!”

Elizabeth’s nose wrinkled and she exhaled loudly. “I don’t need your pity potatoes, Abby.”

“Who said anything about pity potatoes? These are _friendship_ potatoes. And maybe… favor… potatoes?"

Elizabeth looked up to see the mischief on Abigail’s face. She sighed, but smiled. “Alright, what is it you want me to find in the mines?”

Abigail’s face split into a wide grin and she clapped her hands. “Ha! I knew you would remember!”

Elizabeth rolled her eyes but smiled. 

Favors — yet another small-town custom she had forgotten.

*

* * *

> _from: obsidian_wizzard@email.sdv_   
>  _to: lettiebear@jojanet.co_   
>  _subject: RE: UGHHHHHHHHHH_
> 
> _I can tell how freaked out you are because you said you miss SAM. It’ll be okay, I promise. I’m sorry your parents just sit there and try to plan your whole life out for you._
> 
> _We’ll do everything we can to figure it out! I’ll see if maybe my mom can talk to yours? We talked to your granddad the other day. He misses you a lot. We all do. But me most of all._
> 
> _Let’s just speed up our plan to move out. Think we can finish three years of high school in a month or so? lol_
> 
> _Baz_
> 
> _PS Even if you’re not here in the Valley, I’m always here for you, Lettie. Don’t ever forget that._
> 
> _PPS Are you caught up on Cave Saga? That last reveal was EPIC._

**Author's Note:**

> Completely self-indulgent, but this has been knocking around in my head so why the hell not.
> 
> Comments of any kind welcome!


End file.
